I've never been a huge fan of noir. Too many stereotypes. The genre's been overplayed, becoming a parody of itself. The mournful saxophone, the monotonous voice overs, the same characters lurking in the shadows. In my opinion, Roman Polanski's Chinatown was the final chapter on this style of filmmaking. After which, the only good noir has been creative variations -- for instance, Bladerunner as sci-fi noir. Then along comes Brick.

Even though Brick is set within a high school, with teenage characters, I have trouble calling it a "variation". While the film is playfully self-aware of the genre and archetypes, it is classic noir crime fiction. Cut from the same cloth as Chinatown, On The Waterfront, or Double Indemnity -- however, it injects new life and new potential into this American film style.